An Iranian lawmaker is saying Russian women working in the country's sole nuclear power plant do not observe the strict Islamic dress code, though they are paid extra to comply.

Under Iranian law, all women must cover themselves from head to toe in public.

A Tuesday report by the semiofficial ISNA news agency quotes Mahdi Mousavinejad, a representative of the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, where the plant is located, as saying violation of dress code by the Russian workers has had a "corrupting and negative impact" on his constituency.

Mousavinejad says he will report on the case to the Iranian parliament. He did not say how many women were involved or how much they were paid.

9. This is much more than a dress code for the nation.

The code only applies to women and cannot be compared to waring a middle school uniform. Women have to be cover from head to toe and the punishment for not complying is way more harsh than a reprimand. It is a barbaric custom and a serious infringement of a woman's rights.

10. Thank you. I did not mean to belittle the impact that the dress requirements,

and other restrictions on women, have on women in Iran and other conservative Islamic societies and I recognize the severity with which they enforce these laws. I agree with you that the custom is barbaric.
I was not trying to make light of the situation but rather trying to point out the absurdity of such laws, especially in the context of a modern nuclear facility.
I think all sumptuary laws are evil. They are designed to aid in societal discrimination and to enable the easy identification and control of people.

15. Thanks. I'm sure we do agree on this matter.

On a good day I can communicate my thoughts clearly so it must have been a bad one for me too.
As a public school teacher, I have had to fight the "school uniform as panacea for off-task teens" crowd too often (I'm a bit obsessed by the issue and, no doubt, too quickly made the comparison).
Where do people get the idea that clothes make the man? Or, as in the case of conservative Muslim men, the idea that a woman's clothing determines how she ought to be treated. Her look determines how he should act? A pretty stupid excuse for abusing and humiliating (or worse) women, who dare to have a public face or a public voice.
Perhaps it is valid to suggest that one's chosen attire can be indicative of the wearer's attitude or personality, in some way, but for this to apply, the look must be chosen by the wearer, not school administrators, parents, or the Taliban.
The increasing numbers of rapes and abuse that have surfaced recently, both in the United States and abroad (Pakistan, India). is reprehensible and shocking.
When I was a young man I was foolish enough to believe that misogyny and racism were two of the ugly aspects of American culture that were on the wane. Boy was I ever wrong.

I hate to say it but Three barrels of oil, one male and two female goats come to $1224, which comes to $14,688 on an annual basis. Three Barrels of Crude and three goats, good wages if you are a Russian.

21. i disagree

to the extent that those in their own country can "behave like they want." What if they decided child sacrifice was a great thing? Genocide? Should the rest of the world stand by and twiddle their thumbs?

22. And we get to criticize Iran for its misogyny while applauding those who resist the misogyny.

I have no idea what the female Russian scientists jobs are within the Iranian facility but they may gotten there and realized the clothing was problematic for them to properly perform their task. Some of the traditional Iranian chadors have many many yards of fabric and would be very difficult to move around in, especially if you aren't used to wearing it. Were they knocking test tubes over with their tents or was the garb making it difficult to maneuver away from toxic chemicals?

We don't have enough information. Its possible the Russians agreed to wear it then got there and it wasn't safe. They may have never agreed to wear it and the Iranians are lying. The truth may be somewhere in between.